Citizen board recommends BlM sterilize wild horses

Shannon Dininny

SALT LAKE CITY— A citizen advisory panel is recommending that the federal government consider sterilizing some wild horses and burros that freely roam across miles of federal land in the West.

Members of the Wild Horse and Burro Advisory Board say the Bureau of Land Management should consider the step to protect rangelands and control booming populations of mustangs in 10 Western states.

The bureau already uses vaccines to slow horses from reproducing and rounds them up for adoption, but thousands of those horses currently live in captivity.

The BLM also has been criticized for allowing a horse slaughter proponent to buy hundreds of horses over the past five years. The agency acknowledged Monday that its inspector general is investigating allegations that the Colorado man purchased more than 1,700 horses for slaughter in Mexico.